''Travel Scholarships'' (french: Bourses de voyage) is a 1903 adventure novel by

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

Summary

Antilian School is a renowned

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

college, which hosts only young European people born in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. Nine of its students are to be awarded travel grants offered by the school's sponsor, a wealthy

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

woman. Harry Markel, a former captain turned

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

, has been captured and transferred to England, but he escapes along with his right-hand man John Carpenter and the rest of his accomplices – known collectively as the "Pirates of the ''Halifax''" — and seizes the ''Alert'', a three-masted ship leaving, after having massacred the captain and crew. It is precisely the ship that's just embarking the winners, accompanied by their mentor Horatio Patterson, the bursar of the school. The long voyage across the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

starts and Markel and his crew, who have assumed the identity of the murdered officers and sailors, prepare to kill the passengers. But Markel learns that they will receive a large sum of money from the hands of their benefactor upon their arrival in Barbados. By greed, he resigns himself to temporarily leave the students alive a little more. On stops in stops, they visit the islands where they were born, receiving a warm welcome from their parents and their friends. The trip in the archipelago is a delight, but it may end tragically. Indeed, when Markel confirms that the youngsters are in possession of the prize offered by Mrs. Seymour, he is preparing to commit his crime. However, to Markel's bad fortune, a sailor named Will Mitz takes place on board the Alert on the recommendation of Mrs. Seymour. Mitz surprises the criminal plan of the false captain, over-hearing one of the pirates' conversations. Taking advantage of the night, he attempts an escape with the students and Patterson, but fails, then after a brief confrontation, takes command of the ship after locking up Markel and Carpenter on the captain's quarters and the other pirates in the ship's cellar, where they discover rum and get drunk. After a while, Markel and Carpenter finally manage to get out and go free their fellow criminals, but it is too late. The pirates experience a horrible end, having accidentally caused a fire that sinks the vessel. Meanwhile, Mitz and his protégés succeed in escaping in the ship's demise aboard a boat, and live through difficult times before being rescued by a steamer and repatriated to Britain where, having received notice of their adventure, they are received by the press and a large crowd. At the end, after their exciting and eventful trip, the students gather at their school for another busy year.

Publication

''Travel Scholarships'' was serialized in the ''Magasin d’Éducation et de Récréation'' from January 1 to December 15, 1903, and published in book form by the publishing house of Pierre-Jules Hetzel in two volumes on July 1, 1903, and November 9, 1903, respectively. A large-format ''grand-in-8º'' illustrated edition followed on November 19, 1903. The illustrator was Léon Benett. An English translation by Teri J. Hernández was published by Wesleyan University Press in 2013, making ''Travel Scholarships'' the final novel in Verne's '' Voyages Extraordinaires'' series to be translated into English.

References

{{Authority control 1903 French novels Novels by Jules Verne Novels about pirates Novels set in the Caribbean Novels set in London